Breaking News, Latest Philippines Headlines, World, Entertainment, Politics, Weather & Video News
by W.G. Dunlop and Safa Majeed TINA, Iraq (AFP) — Families who fled their village in the early days of the battle to retake Mosul from jihadists sit on the dusty ground amid discarded plastic bottles and other trash. This group is one of the first of what the United Nations said could be up to a million people who flee their homes during the operation to recapture Iraq’s second city, which has been held […]
Thursday (October 20) marks a week since Thailand’s revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej passed away after 70 years on the throne. Every day since his body was moved to the Grand Palace on October 14, ahead of a funeral which will take place after a year of mourning, tens of thousands have been gathering at the palace to pay their respects. Special prayers are due to be held at the palace on Thursday attended by the […]
Brazilian President Michel Temer met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday (October 19) seeking to lure Japanese investments back home where the country faces deep recession. He said there was “much potential” in investing in the country’s airport, oil and gas sectors. Temer, making the first visit to Japan by a Brazilian head of state in 11 years, aims to repair ties frayed by his predecessor Dilma Roussef, who twice cancelled official visits […]
Dozens of pro-Beijing lawmakers walked out of the Hong Kong legislature on Wednesday (October 19) to prevent the swearing-in of two pro-independence activists, setting the scene for a new constitutional crisis in the Chinese-controlled territory. The topic of independence has long been taboo in the former British colony, now governed under the “one country, two systems” principle since its return to Communist-ruled China in 1997. The government failed in an unprecedented legal attempt to halt […]
PYONGYANG, North Korea (Reuters) — North Korea held a congress of its Red Cross Society on Tuesday (October 18) in Pyongyang. Video provided by KCNA, which Reuters cannot independently verify, showed North Korean officials and foreign delegations were seen attending the congress at the People’s Palace of Culture in Pyongyang. Delegations from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Danish, Finnish and British Red Cross, […]
by W.G. Dunlop with Ahmad al-Rubaye in Al-Shura and Colin Bertier in Arbil QAYYARAH, Iraq (AFP) — Tens of thousands of Iraqi forces were making gains from the Islamic State group in Mosul Tuesday in an offensive US President Barack Obama warned would be a “difficult fight”. With the crucial battle in its second day, Iraqi commanders said progress was being made as fighters pushed on two main fronts against the jihadists’ last stronghold in […]
Qionghai, China (CCTV) — Typhoon Sarika brought gale and heavy downpour to Qionghai City of south China’s island province of Hainan Tuesday morning. According to local observatory, the maximum rainfall reached 236 millimeters in the town of Huishan within three hours from 05:00 to 08:00. The gale triggered huge waves in the sea. Sarika, the 21st typhoon of the year, made landfall at 09:50 Tuesday in the town of Hele in Wanning City, around 50 […]
by Karam al-Masri with Maya Gebeily in Beirut ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) — Russia has announced an eight-hour “humanitarian” ceasefire in Aleppo later this week, as the EU warned that the Syrian regime’s Moscow-backed assault on the city could amount to a war crime. The United Nations and European Union welcomed the announcement, but said Thursday’s planned pause in fighting needed to be longer to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, dozens of civilians including […]
UNITED NATION, United States (AFP) — A 72-hour ceasefire in Yemen will go into effect starting Thursday, the United Nations announced on Monday. A cessation of hostilities that first went into effect in April “will re-enter into force at 23:59 Yemen time (2059 GMT) on 19 October 2016, for an initial period of 72 hours, subject to renewal,” the UN’s special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, said in a statement. The announcement comes after […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Iraqi security forces were “ahead of schedule” after the first day of an offensive for the Islamic State-held city of Mosul, a Pentagon official said Monday. A US-led coalition has for months been helping train Iraqi forces for the fight for Mosul — the last IS stronghold in Iraq — and the military offensive finally got underway early Monday. “Early indications are that Iraqi forces have met their objectives so […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck China’s northwestern province of Qinghai on Monday, the US Geological Survey reported, in an area frequently plagued with seismic activity. The quake was 32 kilometres (20 miles) deep, USGS said, with its epicentre in a sparsely-populated area of Yushu prefecture. There was a “low likelihood of casualties and damage”, it said. Yushu was the scene of a 6.9-magnitude earthquake in April 2010 that left nearly 2,700 people dead […]
HANOI, Vietnam | AFP | — Severe flooding in central Vietnam has killed at least 25 people and destroyed thousands of homes, officials said Monday, as the country braced for further destruction with a typhoon barrelling closer. Images from flood-hit provinces showed houses almost completely submerged and people paddling down waterlogged streets following heavy rain that started last week. Four people are still missing after the deluge, which destroyed or damaged more than 240,000 […]
